Say I Love You
by Kanade Hikari
Summary: Naruto's marriage with Sasuke is declining. Naruto decides to leave, but Sasuke stops him. / Sasuke x Naruto
1. Chapter 1

It's been five years since Naruto married Sasuke.

Their marriage was great at first. Sasuke was a little moody as usual and wouldn't open up about his feelings sometimes, but Naruto knew that Sasuke cherished him. Even though he hasn't said 'I love you' to Naruto, he knew that Sasuke loved him because of the warmth he saw in those coal black eyes whenever they locked eyes with each other. Over the years, Sasuke slowly broke that protective barrier he put around himself and allowed himself to perform affectionate gestures with Naruto.

They acted like any other loving couple.

They would go on dates to a variety of places and kiss each other when no one was looking. They would hug each other tightly at night. They would console each other whenever one of them had a nightmare. They would talk to each other everyday. They would tell everything to each other.

They would do all that with each other…until recently.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke was distant lately. He didn't come back home until late at night, when Naruto was already asleep by then. Their daily dates dwindled to zero a week. Sasuke wouldn't touch him as much as he used to. They only exchanged a few words each day. Each time they had a conversation, it felt forced.

Naruto brushed it off at first, thinking that Sasuke was just having a bad time at work. But then his worries increased to the point that they couldn't be ignored anymore when this routine continued for several months. Sasuke no longer gave him that gaze did he always did whenever he was with the blond.

Naruto finally broke down crying when he realized that Sasuke might not have loved him anymore.

It was almost a year after Sasuke's distance, did Naruto decide to move out.

It was late at night, the time when Sasuke would come home, when he packed his belongings into two large suitcases, his normally cheerful face was passive as he did so. He promised himself that he would not cry in front of Sasuke when he left. He wanted Sasuke's last memory of him to be a happy one, an image of him smiling. It was for the best. If their love wasn't mutual anymore, then it was best if they separated for good.

Naruto decided that he would let Sasuke keep the small house they bought together. The place held too many memories of their time together that Naruto wanted to forget after he leaves.

Naruto have already finished packing when Sasuke came back home. Sasuke immediately froze at the entrance of their bedroom door when he saw the suitcases.

Bewildered, Sasuke walked up to Naruto and grabbed his shoulders. In panic, he asked, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm leaving."

Sasuke's eyes widened. It was the most reaction that Naruto ever got from him in almost a year. "Why?!"

After hearing that question, Naruto was furious. Did Sasuke honestly didn't know why this was happening? After Sasuke ignored his husband all this time? All the pent-up emotions Naruto felt from the distance were starting to rise over the edge.

Naruto scowled. "Why? You know why. We have barely had a decent conversation for a year! You can't expect me to believe that we have a healthy marriage when you don't even look at me anymore."

Sasuke gaped at the revelation, but couldn't say anything.

Annoyed, Naruto forcibly shrugged off Sasuke's hold on him and proceeded to grab the suitcases. He was about to head out the door when Sasuke said it.

"I love you."

Naruto stopped walking. Did Sasuke just say those three words that Naruto thought he would never say? Naruto turned around to face him. "What?"

Naruto was stunned when Sasuke ran up to him and embraced him tightly.

Sasuke buried his nosed into Naruto's neck. He pleaded, "I-I love you. I had no idea that things were going so bad between us. I'll make it up to you! So please…_Don't leave._"

Naruto was speechless. Sasuke was normally too prideful to plead with anyone, but here he was now, practically begging Naruto to stay. He even told Naruto that he loved him. Never in their years together did Sasuke said that he loved him. He felt Sasuke tremble and was visibly shocked to see tears streaming down Sasuke's cheeks when he raised his head to look at him.

Naruto gulped.

Maybe he was wrong? Maybe Sasuke still loved him? And maybe Sasuke loved him more than he thought he did?

Naruto shakily hugged Sasuke back. In a reassuring voice, he whispered, "Alright, I'll stay."

**A/N: I didn't proofread this, so there are probably mistakes. I thought this was a pretty bad oneshot, but just wanted to share in case anyone liked it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I was going to leave it open-ended and let readers imagine what happens next, but I guess a mini sequel won't hurt. This is now a two-part oneshot. Ugh, I don't like how this part came out, but maybe you'll like it. **

* * *

It's been a month since Naruto and Sasuke reconciled.

Naruto was honestly surprised at what transpired. He was already close to giving up on their marriage until Sasuke's sudden confession. Maybe it wasn't unusual for spouses to tell their significant others that they loved them, but for Naruto, this confession basically equaled the apocalypse.

Sasuke was a broody, quiet husband that seemed to have a stick up his ass whenever he talked. Although he could be nice to Naruto when he wanted to be, there was a limit to how affectionate he was. Whenever Sasuke was 'kind', it was usually masked by that arrogant, cold personality Sasuke had.

In short, the kindness that Sasuke usually showed was very, _very_ vague. He was akin to a loner wolf, so he wasn't very talkative about his feelings or opinions.

Naruto thought it would stay that way for the rest of their lives, but after that little confession, Sasuke's attitude towards him drastically changed.

Sasuke stopped coming back home late at night and started to take him out on dates again, but this time, instead of once a week, Sasuke insisted to go out every day.

Every.

Single.

Day.

That's insane!

Naruto was sure that Sasuke was tired when he came back from work, but he looked energetic, even more than Naruto did. How on earth was that possible? Naruto concluded that Sasuke was pretending to be full of energy when he was actually fatigued and two hours away from collapsing. They also had longer conversations and there was a major improvement in Sasuke's social skills.

Naruto had concerns about Sasuke's 180 degree turn in his personality, but thought it was because Sasuke wanted to make it up to him, so he let him be. The change is not going to last long, right?

But one night, Sasuke did something totally out of character after they finished their dinner at a local restaurant.

Once they were outside, Naruto's jaw literally dropped to the floor when Sasuke got down on one knee and held a banquet of roses up to his face. He presented the roses to Naruto in _public_, where anyone passing by could see them. Unfortunately, they were a lot of pedestrians walking on the street they were at, too. They all stared at the couple with weird looks.

Now, Naruto was really worried. Embarrassed that Sasuke would pull such a cliché act in front of others, Naruto hurriedly dragged Sasuke back home.

When they returned to their house, Naruto confronted Sasuke.

Naruto rambled, "Sasuke, what was all that about? You wanted to give me roses of all things? I thought you didn't like flowers! You never bothered to give me gifts before either. And what's with all these dates we keep going to everyday? We went to plenty of dates before, but we never had them every day of every week!"

Then Sasuke started to sulk and Naruto gasped. The once proud Uchiha was sulking. He never saw Sasuke sulk in his life. Brooding, yes, but sulking? Never.

"I don't dislike flowers. I admit that they're pleasant to look at." Sasuke struggled to keep a steady voice. "You seemed to enjoy going on dates, so I thought we should have dates more often."

Naruto sighed. "You're trying to make up for all the times you wouldn't talk to me, aren't you?"

Sasuke nodded.

After that episode of Naruto's attempt to leave, Sasuke probably had insecurities about their entire relationship now. Naruto figured that much. They still haven't fully resolved that rift that formed between them.

"You pretty much abandoned me for a whole year, so I haven't forgiven you yet, teme." He didn't miss the way Sasuke tense at the statement.

Naruto continued, "But I will someday, just…don't do anything like that ever again. I don't think I could endure another year of you ignoring me."

Immediately, Sasuke's eyes filled with determination. He said firmly, "I won't ignore you again. I promise."

Naruto grinned. "I know, I know. In return, I won't try to leave again. As long as we know that we love each other, you won't see me packing another suitcase again. Well, unless we're going on vacation, or traveling, or going to a sleepover. But I'm not going to leave you. Got it?"

Sasuke nodded. "Got it."

"Good. If you understand that, then can you act like your normal self again?"

He tried to explain what he meant when he saw that Sasuke started to sulk again. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way. I really enjoyed the dates and your attempts on trying to be more romantic, but it seems like you're forcing yourself to do them, and I want us to do things together that _we both_ enjoy, not only one of us."

Sasuke was a little taken aback.

"I understand what you're trying to say," Sasuke replied. He furrowed his eyebrows. "But is there any other way to make you happy?"

"Well, duh." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I want us to spend more time together, but we don't have to go outside. I'm perfectly fine with us cuddling together under our bed covers and relaxing. I know that you stress yourself working. Don't force yourself to take me on dates when you're obviously exhausted."

"Okay." After saying that one word answer that Naruto knew that Sasuke had a bad habit of doing in most of their conversations, Sasuke started to walk away.

Naruto was startled, the smile quickly dropping off his face. "Hey, wait a minute. Where are you going?!"

Sasuke turned to look at him. "What? You said that you were fine with cuddling together under our bed covers."

Naruto blinked. Then a look of pure happiness took over his expression.

Seeing this, Sasuke spoke, "Dobe."

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Naruto tiptoed to Sasuke's side and pecked him with a kiss on the cheek. "I love you too, teme."

He followed Sasuke to their shared bedroom.

They cuddled together for the rest of the night.


End file.
